CEO's of charities earning vast sums.

Good idea mishap

We gave a lot of thought to where donations should go in memory of Dad and looked at various charities. In the end we came down on the idea of buying a specialist electrically controlled bed for the home where he died. It is not a big place - just a small family-run home where they have to save up for large itmes like this. An item of concrete benefit to many and we will know exactly where the money has gone.

I do feel that if you work for a charity there should be some commitment to it! If you are committed to it you might feel a salary over £100k did not illustrate that commitment!

So how come a has been,second rate politician lands the job of head of a large US charity at £280,000 a year.
Best man for the job?
You must be joking.
It isn't what you know,it's who you know.

Many of the big cities and towns are now plagued (yes that is the right word) with charity workers stopping people in the street and badgering them into signing up for on going donations. The unwitting person doesnt realise (and certainly isnt made aware) that they are normally signing up for life and whilst the sum is not usually astonomical it is quite significant and can take quite a lot of hassle to get out of. There are so many of these Chuggers (Charity Muggers) in Newcastle city centre that some of the stores are compaining that people are avoiding walking past them and subsequently avoiding their stores. The "workers" (they are paid it is not voluntary) usually hae a patch that they operate from and will not/cannot be moved.

Do people really NEED £185,000 to live on comfortably. Lots of us manage on a lot less. To me, a charity needs to be run by people with an ethos of caring for others. Directors of charities who demand huge salaries seem to be out of step with this ethos. I'm not naive. People need to be rewarded for their skill and experience but why pay so much money?

I believe a lot of charities are rorts. Two weeks ago I donated towards an ad being made regarding asylum seekers and I am about to donate to change.org. I will donate for appeals such as the Japanese Tsunami.

I won't line the pockets of CEOs of large charities because I know in a lot of instances besides the CEO's wages there are the numerous staff, their vehicles and their flash offices. One such charity in South Australia also receives millions in Government finding and the majority of children with disabilities don't get any help. I know this for a fact as a relative had many dealings with them and in the end she applied for Individualised Government Funding. With the grant received she was able to pay for physiotherapy, speech therapy and swimming lessons for her son. Beneficial to his health and he had been denied by this charity even though they received the funding from the government which is meant to be spent on the children with disabilities. My relative has now helped other parents who had also been denied help, receive their own individualised funding.

.....and thats just the man/woman at the top harrigran there are plenty more salaried workers below them.

Talking about CEOs of charities, CEO of Red Cross earns £184,000
Oxfam £120,000 and Save the Children £163,000.
Imagine how much a charity has to collect in donations before the needy get one penny.

But all these CEOs move around with golden handshakes from one post to another very much like the managers in the NHS . It is quite extraordinary looking at their cvs

I said it was catching. I can recognise a contagious condition when I see one

Blimey I have just re-read the second half of my last post and I think I have been spending too much time with Frank

That's to B's link

Interesting. Trade, not aid, although I rather think it's trading with the Chinese economy. Not that I think that's necessarily a bad idea, but I fear it's a hidden and false economy for many Africans. I think the Chinese could be seen as profiteering.

I appreciate that running a successful charity takes a certain amount of skill but I think it is only fair to the people who give to these charities that the amount of money used to pay salaries/expenses/company cars etc. should be made public.

On the industrial estate where we have our small factory, a charity has 3 seperate units where it stores charitable donations. Their vans are in and out all day every day and it has just recently come to the attention of the tenants that they are paying neither rent or rates.

The school my son went to turned itself into a "charity" for tax purposes.

I hope this hoo-ha doesn't stop people giving to these charities. Oxfam do good work.

This article seems appropriate to this thread

Well I'd like to do quite a bit of Charity Commission bashing - they let some real tax avoidance scams through not to mention public schools ( so I won't) - oh here we go again!! Nothing wrong with paying CEOs of large charities good money for a job well done. I had a friend who was paid a fortune as a fund raiser for a major cancer charity and she was brilliant at it and raised hundreds of times her salary

noodles exactly, which is why it is better for large charities to pay a bit more and get really good managers in. This is easier said than done - speaking as one who has done a bit of recruitment in her time - finding really talented managers with the skills and vision these charities need must be pretty difficult. With poor management donated money is going to be badly used.
I found it dispiriting yesterday that the head of the charities commission (nice part time salary thanks) was wading in, being critical and also the minister. No news in August so lets have bash the charities week. Deflects criticism from the government I suppose.

I think there are people out there, Bags, who would work for a more realistic salary and not expect endless perks.... but would they fit in to today's greedy and materialistic world? It needs a real change in attitude in society in general, I think, and particularly amongst the rich and powerful.

I don't think you can make that comparison - for one thing, being an MP for many ( not all I accept) is not a full time job. It's only if second ( or third, fourth etc) jobs were banned that I would support some increase in salary.

I realise this is of post - but it's reminded me again of the MP Salary debate. If CEO's of charities need to be paid £150,000 to get people who are bright enough, why do we expect MP's to do a demanding job, in the public eye, for less than half this amount

Don't worry Greatnan. My son signed the Official Secrets Act, but he still tells me what the weather's going to be.

Poor governance and bad management are the twin evils of the voluntary sector - that and poor staff management.

There are no qualifications required to be a Trustee and well meaning management committees can be easily led by a persuasive chief officer.

Good management? I could say a great deal about some charities, having studied their accounts, but having signed The Official Secrets Act, my lips are sealed! Suffice it to say I make my donations very carefully now.